July 26, 2012- Almost 16 months

We have been having a great summer! It has been so wonderful to be home with Sam and Gwen. I have seen such a change in Sam's abilities this summer. Last week she started crawling. When she wants to get from a crawling position to a sitting position and her right leg doesn't cooperate, she will actually take and pull her toes so that her foot will go the right way. It is really sweet. We saw the specialist for the stiffness in her legs on Monday. She wanted her to get braces that she will eventually need to wear almost all the time and Botox injections in her hamstrings and in her lower legs. She had an opening for Wednesday so we went ahead and brought her back down yesterday. They had to put her to sleep which is always hard on her. On the way home, driving down the highway she got sick in the car. Other than that she seems to be doing quite well since she has over 40 pricks all over her legs. She is still crawling everywhere. I really hope that with these new treatments she will be up and walking in no time! She is such a sweet girl. She hugs my neck when I get her everyday after her nap and makes the sweetest noise of contentment. Gwen and Sam are as close as ever. Gwen is like a second mother to her. She is the best big sister! I am so very blessed. When I am feeling down from time to time I just remember just where God has brought us. My mood changes instantly because my heart just fills with gratitude. Just in case there is a parent of another child who might be going through a similar situation, I thought I would post photos of what her legs looked like after the injections. I didn't expect so many injection sites but overall it seems to be working just a day out from the procedure. All of this gets scary at times but I have come to realize that we are not alone.